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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean waters are in danger of disappearing, with illegal fishing being a significant driver to their worrying decrease.

This assessment is based on research by scientists, who collaborated with an international conservation charity. They report that some of the most threatened species – like the great white shark – are found on sale in ports across the North African coast.

Great white sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to catch them or to offer them for sale.

However, by surveying docks along the North African Mediterranean shoreline, the research team uncovered that at least 40 great white sharks have been slaughtered in that region in just the past year.

Footage from social media showing sharks under protection being landed at North African ports has been independently verified.

One video showed a large great white being dragged onto land from a fishing boat in an Algerian port. Another, recorded in Tunisia, shows parts of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a threatened and protected species.

Last Shark Stronghold

The lead researcher, clarified that many shark species – particularly great whites – had plummeted in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other stretch of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been increasing... and it's likely that they will become extinct in the near future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now classified as Critically Endangered by the key international body.

In their latest attempt to find and study the sharks, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

An important goal of their project was to attach a satellite tag onto a shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of fish bait – including baitfish and a substantial volume of scent oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

After two weeks of work – laying bait, taking samples of seawater to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any specimens.

They captured only a fleeting sighting of one blue shark species on their submarine cameras.

"It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this marine environment is."

During their search for living sharks, they also received reports that a juvenile great white had been taken in a North African fishery – just 20 nautical miles from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that shark was caught by accident in nets or lines, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, estimates that more than 40 great white sharks have been taken along that coastline. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The scientists, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Evidence shows that protected sharks are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The rules that protect sharks are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads.

An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".

The agreement specifies "they must be released alive [where] possible". Those rules do not address unintentional catch and enforcement is variable from one place to another.

A marine advocate noted that his own inquiry found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were turning up for sale.

"It shows that there is animals still there," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the dilemma of whether to earn a livelihood, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a scientist. "If you support them and train them in more sustainable fishing, they will not catch protected species."

Another expert added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

"But," he added, "we've got to act very quickly."